Carpenters, masons, other tradesman and residential homeowners require quick access to a marking instrument and a level for brief periods several times during a job. The job can vary from carpentry to stone masonry to construction to general fixing or maintenance around the house. Often, a disposable carpenter's pencil is used to mark a surface and a bubble level to level the surface. As bubble levels are available in multiple sizes, for jobs in smaller spaces, smaller levels typically are used.
A carpenter's pencil is the standard writing instrument in the trade because it is sturdy, reliable, inexpensive, widely available and disposable. Typically, the user sharpens the pencil with a utility or other knife and writes with one or either end of the pencil until the overall length of the pencil is too short to hold without difficulty, at which time the remaining pencil bit is discarded and another pencil is used. Other pencils are comprised entirely or almost entirely of lead or a graphite composition and therefore do not require sharpening.
When not being used, the pencil is typically kept in the same place proximate the user so as to be located easily when needed, such as in the user's pocket, tool belt or even positioned behind the user's ear.
Writing instruments that have functions in addition to writing, such as rulers and bubble levels exist in the prior art, however they suffer from several deficiencies. A writing instrument is required in order to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art.